IMDb RATING
7.4/10
13K
YOUR RATING
A volunteer fire department throws a party for their former boss with the whole town invited, but nothing goes as planned.A volunteer fire department throws a party for their former boss with the whole town invited, but nothing goes as planned.A volunteer fire department throws a party for their former boss with the whole town invited, but nothing goes as planned.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 1 nomination total
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaDirector Milos Forman with screenwriters Jaroslav Papousek and Ivan Passer were in the small town of Vrchabi, trying to concentrate on a screenplay after their success with Loves of a Blonde (1965). One evening, on a lark, they went to a real firemen's ball in the town. What they saw there was so remarkable, they abandoned the script they were working on and began writing this film.
- Quotes
Gray-haired Committee Member: The lottery has been stolen.
Joska, Committee Member: Gentlemen, there is one fact: if the people stole it, they cannot win it.
Committee Member: Don't talk like that, Joska. What about those people who bought the tickets honestly and didn't steal anything?
Joska, Committee Member: They should have stolen.
- Alternate versionsIn the United States, this film was shown in both subtitled and English-dubbed versions.
- ConnectionsEdited into CzechMate: In Search of Jirí Menzel (2018)
Featured review
The Firemen's Ball (1967) **** Watching Forman's acclaimed comedy ''The Firemen's Ball'' was a very unique movie-going experience. It is filled with the extraordinary subtle humor, compassion for its characters, very realistic setting, acting & feeling and some brief satire. It got various reviews upon releasing. Some critics hailed it as a minimalistic masterpiece (Roger Ebert) others just was ''resistant'' to it's so-called charm (Leonard Maltin). I just know I wasn't. Judge for yourself. I can't, however, recall so sharp and intelligent script and so believable performances packed in mere 70 minutes. I find it superior to acclaimed Oscar winning Czech comedy filmed a year before by Jiri Menzel ''Closely Watched Trains''. By the way, interesting note: Czechoslovakian movies were nominated four years in a row for the Best Foreign Language Oscar in 1960ies. ('65, '66, '67, '68). Two of them won it (''Shop on a main street'' in 1965 and ''Closely Watched Trains'' in 1967) and two didn't (''Loves of a Blonde'' in 1966 and ''The Firemen's Ball'' in 1968).
- How long is The Firemen's Ball?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- The Firemen's Ball and Lottery
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $65,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 13 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content